Federal officials have known about the seriousness of the Zika virus for more than a year, yet important funding has been tied up in the worst kind of Washington impasse. In late June, a bill that would have earmarked $1.1 billion for Zika funding was sunk by a series of non-related riders. Democrats did not support the Republican-written bill, which came attached with provisions that cut funding from Planned Parenthood, as well as lift a ban on displaying the Confederate flag at military cemeteries.

What the Stars and Bars has to do with birth defects is beyond the scope of this column. Attaching riders to bills is not new politics, but in the case of an encroaching epidemic, doing so seems peculiar, at best.

The Zika virus is spread mostly by the bite of a particular kind of mosquito, though it can also be spread through sexual contact. Many people who are affected with the virus don’t always exhibit symptoms. Those who do have symptoms generally complain of relatively minor issues such as joint pain and a fever that passes in a few days. But infection during a pregnancy can cause a serious birth defect of the brain known as microcephaly. Other effects of a pregnancy infection include, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hearing loss and slow growth.

In Connecticut, the first Zika virus case was reported in March, when a 60-year-old woman who had traveled to South America came back with symptoms later found to be caused by the virus.

Raul Pino, commissioner of the state Department of Public Health, added the Zika virus to the lists of Reportable Diseases, Emergency Illnesses and Health Conditions and Reportable Laboratory Findings in February.

Felipe Dana Photo.

An infant born in Brazil with microcephaly.

That means, according to Dr. Matthew L. Cartter, state epidemiologist and director of infectious diseases with the state Department of Public Health, that physicians and health care providers must report suspected cases of Zika to the state and to the local health departments. The state updates its Zika count online every week. As of the first week of July, 433 people had been tested, and 25 had been found to have the virus, including three women who are pregnant. Each person had traveled to and returned from countries where the virus was already present, such as the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico.

The state has 91 trapping stations in 72 towns, a third of them in Fairfield and New Haven counties, where most of the West Nile (another mosquito-born illness) cases were reported in years past.

But shouldn’t our elected representatives be concerned about virus’s potential on future voters?

Susan Campbell is a distinguished lecturer at the University of New Haven. She can be reached at slcampbell417@gmail.com.

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Out of work and addicted to the anti-anxiety medication Klonopin, Heather Delaney, a licensed practical nurse from Stratford, checked herself into Bridgeport Hospital in 2011 when she could no longer handle withdrawal without medical help.